>Because the ribs run counter to the grain of the soundboard and effectively >transmit vibration across the board (including across a crack in the >soundboard), there is little loss in tone production. > >David Love Correct, which is one reason a soundboard isn't a speaker cone, though there are similarities. A couple of years back, I got a call from a Kawai dealer with a dead bass on a year old console (don't remember the model, sorry to say, and this is the only time I've seen this). It was just the bass that was affected. We ordered a couple of strings for sample test replacements, but they sounded just as bad as what was there. An inspection of the piano hadn't turned up anything out of the ordinary with regard to crown and bearing. There were no loose glue joints that I could detect at the rim, ribs, bridge attachment, cap, or anywhere else. No soundboard cracks. Nothing was wedged between plate and soundboard, or between the pack posts and ribs, preventing soundboard movement. Still the bass (including the newly replaced strings) was dead. They opted to stop the diagnostic prospecting at that point and make the piano go away, so I never did discover the cause. It's a shame too, because the problem didn't seem to be coming from any of the possible sources for it, and I would love to know what the heck caused it in case it comes up again. I hate being outsmarted by inanimate objects. Ron N
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